I was at the Kuching airport the other day . I heard a wealthy looking man was not allowed by the immigration Department to take the flight to Singapore, as he has been blacklisted for being a bankrupt .

Do you know that 424,653 persons have been blacklisted mainly for defaulting in tax payments, not paying educational loans and also for being declared bankrupts.

Those blacklisted include high profile individuals carrying titles of Tan Sri, Datuk Seri and Datuk.

The Insolvency Department has the bulk of those blacklisted, with 196,473 persons (46%) declared bankrupt;

The blacklist comes from 13 government agencies, which also includes the Inland Revenue Board and the Immigration Department;

The Borneo Post of Aug 6 2010 reported this “ Unimas vice chancellor Prof Dr Khairuddin Abd Hamid said the state exported around 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes of sago annually with income of US$10 million.”

This means that a ton of sago starch is sold for an average price of about RM $ 150-160? Is this correct?

I was told that our Sago starch is sold mainly to Ajinomoto in West Malaysia for the making of food seasoning (MSG) and sago flour used as a replacement for Tapioca flour. A check on the price of Tapioca flour FOB Bangkok revealed that its FOB price is US $ 620 per mt or roughly RM $ 2000 per mt . So why is Sarawak selling its Sago starch 12 times cheaper than the Thai Tapioca flour ? .

I am not sure if Borneo Post has quoted the good Professor and has added another zero to our export. I am incline to believe that the export quantity could be 5000-6000 mt and this means we are selling the sago flour for RM $ 1500-1600 per mt which is still cheaper than Tapoica but it is closer to the gap .

On the other hand , Borneo Post could have correctly quoted UNIMAS and it could be true that Sarawak’s sago flour is being exported at RM $150-160 per mt. If this is the price, the first action that the Sarawak Government should take is to take a good look at the market and ask itself why we are selling our sago flour at such a low price.

Borneo Post continues ” According to CoESAR director, Prof Dr Kopli Bujang, sago palm is one of the major contributors to the state’s economy.” Is it ? Not when it is only worth US$ 10 million . It is not even a healthy industry at all .

As the Federal Government studies what and how much subsidies to reduce, the future price of wheat will represent another problem.

The Federal Government has already set the price of sugar. Now it is the time to have a closer look at the price of wheat.

Listening to the radio, I heard that the international price of wheat has gone up by 24 % .

There appeared to be a world shortage of wheat as a result of drought , Russia and some of the countries around the Black Sea has placed a banned on wheat export . Russia used to supply 20% of the world market and now this is gone . Canada another major exporter of wheat will also see a reduction in the export of wheat.

It is left to US and Australia as the major wheat suppliers.

Malaysia buys the bulk of its wheat from Australia. If Australia responds to this increase and as it surely would, we can expect the price of wheat and its products to increase. It is learned that we can expect at least a 15 % increase of export price from Australia.

This means, price of bread and cakes will increase. Fortunately the price increase, if it sets in, will be seen in 2 to 3 months time or at least after Hari Raya Puasa.

With increase cost, demand for bread and cakes is expected to drop. Hope ever, demand for sugar and eggs, the main ingredients for cakes will drop and so will their prices.

I was told that for one line shopping to be successful it must be supported by an efficient low cost distribution system .

This is how my Korean friend desribed what happened when he bought a few computer parts from the Internet . He was in Seoul and so was the shop .

He bought the items sometime at 5 pm online . He paid for it through his credit card . He was told the item would be delivered to him the next afternoon .

The next day at 10 am , the courier picked up the items from the supplier . My friend knew it when he logged into his account with the supplier –the information was already updated and possibly immediately . By 3 pm , the goods was delivered to his address . He signed for it in the little black box. The moment he signed it , the information was flashed to the supplier’s website and my friend ‘s account was automatically updated . All done in 2 seconds .

In fact , 5 minutes after he had signed for the items he checked with his accounts with the supplier and he realised all the transaction was updated .

He told me that delivery caused him about 2% of the invoice value , and he did not mind it because it saved him much time and transport cost of picking them up himself .

I suppose for our on line shopping to be successful , the transaction must be cheap , efficient and fast .

Something for us to think about .

We have our broadband which is good enough for on line shopping . Unfortunately the cost of courier is still expensive .

But our Post Laju and Bus transport are unfortunately far from cheap .

Perhaps some one can come up with a efficient and a low cost system for distribution of goods ?

WordPress.com has a comprehensive list of Terms of Service ( TOS ) which clearly states what a blogger can do and cannot do . This is fair enough knowing how litigious our society is . I thought I understood the TOS .

The last time I blogged , I was writing on the extract of Gambir . I quoted an information from a website ( oop , I cannot mention its name ) and acknowledged the source of information . That was it . Immediately after i clicked on the ” published ” button , I was informed that my blog could have infringed on the TOS and the blog was deactivated .

Many of my friends contacted me and asked me what is happening ?

What did I do ?

I checked the Forum and there were a few incidents in the past which sought advice . I wrote to the support @wordpress.com and was told that the problem is a link or the mention of the name of a certain website .

I tried a couple of times to delete the offensive word from within . But to no avail and the blog remained deactivated .

I then wrote to support again and told them that the link has been deleted . Two minutes latter , the blog was activated .

The moral of the story ?

Be prepared for your blog to be deactivated because of the presence of the name of certain website . Dont worry write to support to explain . Support is efficient and I get their reply within minutes ( assuming that it is their working days I suppose ) .

The Rain forest of Sarawak has been in existence for the last thousand years unfortunately in recent times, man has started to destroy it. Scientists say the Rain Forest could hold many secrets and we may never know many of these secrets , as the Rain Forest is continuously exploited and will be gone sooner than we thought . Perhaps two of the most well known plants found in the Rain forest of Sarawak are “ Tongkat Ali and Gambir “ . Believe it or not: both are said to possess asprodiasc qualities.

Having said that the plants are collected from the Rain Forest , they are now being cultivated. In Sarawak there is a small scale commercial planting of TongKat Ali but not of Gambir.

If you are looking for local souvenirs and artefacts try the shops in Main bazaar, outside the shops this photo may be a familiar sight.

They are selling Gambir extract. I have a feeling the gambir extract are imported from Indonesia .

Apart from the main bazaar, these salesmen can also be found in India Street and the water front.

Here is some more information on the ‘Gambia extract “copied from a website ‘malaysiamade.com “.

Gambir Sarawak (extract liquid)

Description:

Original gambir sarawak traditionally used by natives in sarawak to prolong and help penis erections.
Beside that it is also being used for:
1. Gum and tooth ache
2. Bitten by insects
3. Before piercing
4. Minor cut
5. Prolong penis erection
Although mainly used by men, there have been reports that women that uses them, loves the burning sensation on their clitoris/labia and have achieved multiple orgasms due to the tingling sensation and the prolong performance by their lover. Note: The affect might differ with each individual. There has not been any report of side affect or allergy due to gambit as it is made from natural organic material. If unsure, do try on a small skin surface beforehand.
Product Details:
Function: see detail

Type: Herbal Extract
Product & Shipping Terms:

Disclaim : This is tongue in cheek article . I do not promote gambir’s extract . Use it at your own risk .

I was told that F and N will, in a short while, cease to manufacture Coca Cola in Malaysia . Coca Cola will do it themselves . In today’s Star, I learned that Permanis will continue to produce Pepsi Cola , on behalf of Pepsi Cola , for the next 10 years. Business must be good for Malaysia and Brunei No 1 and 2 drink.

I have received an email from a friend with a short note that too much soft drink like Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola will erode the enamel of your teeth and thereby exposing them to decay.

The operative word is too much and how much is too much ?

I have a friend who drinks coca cola from morning to night. No water, no tea or coffee. He was fat all right. I was told he had diabetes. Don’t know if this is due to his diet. What I do know is that without his favourite drink he suffers from withdrawal syndrome and becomes jittery the whole day . He was addicted to the drinks .

Have a look at this video on the effect Coca Cola (and I suppose Pepsi Cola too) will have on your teeth. Please bear in mind that as far as I am concern this is not a bible truth , see it for yourselves.